Insects (Mosquitos) at CN & CSA

My trip is still in the planning phases. I know JA is tropical so how is the mosquito situation at these resorts...with all these gardens here and there...I'm planning to be outside at night for looooong hours..Do I have to worry about getting bite? Should I take repellant? and do they have mosquito nets in the room? Last August when I took my fiancee' to South America (her 'first' time out of the US (toronto don't count )...whooooo her skin didnt react well..she survived but had a couple bumps here and there. Me i was fine - no reaction to bites.

I always get a few bites when in Jamaica. Unfortunately, they turn into huge red and unsightly welts on my leg over a 5 -7 day period. With that said, I wear insect spray at night and avoid the beach after sunset to avoid further bites. I suspect I am reacting to sand fleas versus mosquitos. I now take bug bite lotion to get ahead of the inflammation. It does not ruin my trip by any means but sure is unsightly!

At home in Minnesota, I am a magnet for biting insects. In the 2 trips to CSA one in November and one in January, I have never been bitten by any insects. I did not bring any bug spray. We were on the beach early morning and one night had the dinner on the beach in the evening. so, no worries.

I'm like your fiancé and do not react well to the mosquitos. The only time I had any problems was at CN, at dusk, on the beach closer to the water. Did not encounter any during the day or at night anywhere else. The times we have gone to CSS or CTI never had to worry about it one bit. When we go back to CN, I will not step out at dusk without having some deet product on my legs. I will also pack an oral Benadryl.

If you are bitable then take repellant. Alternatively just stand near me and they will swerve around all of you to get at my tasty skin.

The rooms can be sealed and the air conditioning turned on if you want to exclude the little darlings at night. If you ask housekeeping, they will also provide anti-mossie candles that repels them too.

There are biting bugs that live in the sand and emerge at night, so keeping off the sand with unrepelled bare legs in the evening is also a good precaution.

Maybe take some antihistamine to handle any bites you do get ( doesn't do much for me but it works for some).

No mosquito nets, you're in a room, not outdoors to sleep. Mosquitoes or sand fleas are worse at dawn and dusk. I use Avon Skin-So-Soft. Never bitten I. 5 trips until this last October, and that was only because I was out on the beach at 6:00 a.m. And at dusk to photograph the sunsets. Also, as an experienced resident of tropical South Florida, wear NOTHING scented...deodorant, hairspray, perfume, cologne... Get everything unscented.

I'm definitely a mozzie magnet and once I've got a few, they turn nasty! I've found that a few days of non-drowsy antihistamine before we fly and a tablet each day we're away, stops the bites becoming inflamed.

My trip is still in the planning phases. I know JA is tropical so how is the mosquito situation at these resorts...with all these gardens here and there...I'm planning to be outside at night for looooong hours..Do I have to worry about getting bite? Should I take repellant? and do they have mosquito nets in the room? Last August when I took my fiancee' to South America (her 'first' time out of the US (toronto don't count )...whooooo her skin didnt react well..she survived but had a couple bumps here and there. Me i was fine - no reaction to bites.

I'm at CN right now. Its not bad just a few bites although my wife got worse. At CSA however when Trading Places, we got eaten alive. Staff told me the shaded areas at the back of the beach where we are sitting are very bad for sand flies, so be for warned!

I noticed a few bites while at CSA, and then we moved to CN and I never got bit. Being allergic to any kind of insect bites I notice them pretty quick. First time bitten in 6 trips, but I think it was because I forgot to apply skin so soft after showering and that is the only kind of bug bite protection I ever use. Is good.

We travel to CSA in January/February and I always get bitten even though it is the "dry" season. Bob might get one bite the entire trip. So I have learned to bring Off and to apply it just about everywhere before we head out to dinner at night. There are no mosquito nets; this isn't an eco-lodge, there is air conditioning in every room.

My boyfriend and I have a tendency to get bad reactions to bug bites so this was something I was worried about for our first trip this past September to CSA. We did follow a suggestion and take Vitamin B the weeks before we left, not sure if that helped or not but couldn't hurt right?

When the sun started to set on our first day, he got bit on his forehead on our patio and it got HUGE. Luckily, I had bought an Afterbite stick from the pharmacy and although it didn't make the bite go away entirely, it almost immediately stopped the itching and made the mark shrink to just a small red spot. We brought a bottlle of 35% deet on clearance at Target and sprayed it on our legs and sometimes arms each night. We still got a few bites here and there (maybe 1-2 per day total between the two of us, so not bad at all) but it was never an annoyance due to the Afterbite stick - definitely get one!! I carried it with us always.

My greatest tip would be to get bug repellent wristbands. We found a pair of generic citronella wristbands at our local grocery store and bought them for under $3. We each wore one (or sometimes set one on the table between us) and while wearing them we almost never got bitten! They were great!! I'm definitely bringing an extra pack of those and an extra bite stick for our breach bag next time. We were in an Atrium suite which has screens with no glass and shutter to cover if you want the AC running. We loved that we could hear the outdoors through the screens but no bugs could get in.

On a side note, we walked the beach several nights and always were back in the trees near the beach bar when we relaxed on the beach and sand fleas were never a problem for us. We never went on the beach at night without repellent though!!

Mosquitos weren't bad at all. We wore Off and didn't have any problems at all. On the other hand, stand around on the beach after the sun goes down and a suit of armor wont protect you from the sand fleas.

My wife looked like she had a bad case of chicken pox when we left in November from all the bug bites. In our whole group of 12 she was the only one bitten. She likes to put on body spray and lotions that are scented and I warned her but what do I know. She now has bought a years supply of Vitamin B and every bottle of Skin So Soft she can find for our trip next year.

I haven't had problems with bites in the 18 trips to Jamaica to various resorts......except for one year. A window in the bathroom did not close all the way. It took several days to get it fixed and my body was covered with bites. (this was NOT at CSA). I went to the nurse who applied cream to my body; but that didn't last long. The bartender's remedy was a little vodka in a cup that I applied with a cotton ball. Each day I did that and it seemed to help dry them up. It took a while after returning home for them to be gone completely. But that is the only time I've had an issue with bites.